EVENTS
- 337 – Julius I is elected pope.
- 1788 – Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the new U.S. Constitution, by a vote of 187 to 168.
- 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.
- 1840 – New Zealand becomes a British colony. While the Treaty of Waitangi is generally celebrated as the country’s founding document, many Māori claim they were deceived and unwittingly stripped of their right to govern the country.
- 1862 – Battle of Fort Henry in the US Civil War.
- 1933 – The 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted. It set the date for the Presidential Inauguration as January 20th, instead of the old date of March 4th. It also sets January 3rd as the official opening date of Congress.
- 1952 – Elizabeth II becomes Queen of the United Kingdom. She succeeded her father, George VI, who died that day.
- 1959 – The Integrated Circuit is invented.
- 1959 – The first microchip is patented. For his invention of the integrated circuit, Jack Kilby was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics.
- 1989 – The Round Table Talks start in Poland. The negotiations between the Polish government and the trade union Solidarność, or Solidarity in English, marked the beginning of the end of communism in Eastern Europe.
- 1996 – The crash of a Boeing 757 aircraft leaves no survivors. Birgenair Flight 301 was the worst accident involving this type of aircraft.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1665 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain (While the Treaty of Waitangi is generally celebrated as the country’s founding document, many Māori claim they were deceived and unwittingly stripped of their right to govern the country)
- 1756 – Aaron Burr (1756-1836) was born in Newark, New Jersey. In 1804, Vice President Burr challenged Alexander Hamilton to a duel over Hamilton’s negative remarks and mortally wounded him. Burr was later tried for treason over allegations he was planning to invade Mexico as part of a scheme to establish his own empire in the Southwest, but was acquitted.
- 1895 – Babe Ruth (Baseball Player)
- 1911 – Ronald Reagan (40th US President)
- 1919 – Zsa Zsa Gabor (Actress)
- 1931 – Rip Torn (Actor)
- 1940 – Tom Brokaw (News Anchor)
- 1945 – Bob Marley (Singer)
- 1950 – Natalie Cole (Singer)
DEATHS
- 1804 – Joseph Priestley (English chemist, minister, philosopher)
- 1918 – Gustav Klimt (Austrian painter, graphic artist)
- 1999 – Don Dunstan (Australian politician, 35th Premier of South Australia)
- 2007 – Frankie Laine (American singer-songwriter, actor)
- 2011 – Gary Moore (Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer)